


And Give Me A Chance (To Prove I Am The One Who Can)

by Finduilas



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-03
Updated: 2012-03-03
Packaged: 2017-11-05 15:34:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/408077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Finduilas/pseuds/Finduilas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The least that can be said is that Danny is <em>not</em> an easy date.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And Give Me A Chance (To Prove I Am The One Who Can)

**Author's Note:**

> *A conversation with theellibu prompted me to write this. She’s a terrible enabler, you know. Seems like every time I talk to her or to iam_space I am hit by plot bunnies! Can’t really say I hate them for it though…  
> *Beta’d by m_l_h! Thank you, hon!  
> *For gunslingaaahhh. I know it is too late for her birthday (sorry!), but she is a wonderful person and deserves ~all the fics! :) So this is dedicated to her!  
> *Title from Adele, ‘cause I can’t seem to stop myself.

It would have been too easy. Of  _course_  it would have been too easy. This is Danny he’s talking about, after all!  
  
It happens when they’re both working late. Chin and Kono left about an hour earlier, and Danny is coming out of his office, looking tired but satisfied with the closure of a case. They’ve been giving each other looks all day. Those looks that Steve just can’t hide anymore. He doesn’t even try to be subtle. Dammit if he’s going to spend one more second keeping his feelings cropped up.   
  
So he crowds Danny as he’s coming out of his office and puts his hand on Danny’s cheek and without a word he leans down, fully intending to kiss Danny’s breath away.   
  
He never even thought of the possibility that Danny might actually duck his head and push him away. And yet that’s exactly what’s happening, and Steve can feel his heart crumble to pieces.   
  
“What are you doing?” Danny asks, licking his lips nervously, face flushed, and his hand pressed against Steve’s sternum, holding him at a safe distance.   
  
“I…” Steve stammers, swallowing hard and fixing his gaze on Danny.   
  
“You were just going to grab me? Kiss me? Just like that?” Danny doesn’t sound angry, per se, but it’s hard to tell sometimes.   
  
“I thought…” Steve starts, head ducked, staring at the tips of Danny’s fingers that are still pressed against his chest like five spots of warmth, seeping through Steve’s shirt.   
  
“You thought you could just do that?” Danny asks, and he’s gearing up for a nice rant there, Steve can tell. “You thought you could grab me and kiss me like I’m here for the taking? Like some sort of caveman, claiming me as your own without even consulting with me first? Because I’m a guy so you don’t need to bother with actual courtship or wooing? ‘cause I’ll just fall into your arms, just like that?”   
  
Steve opens his mouth and stares a bit, not quite sure what he’s expected to say. But somewhere in the back of his mind it does register that Danny’s not saying no. Not really. And he hasn’t punched Steve or run away either.   
  
“If you want me for your own, Steven…” And Steve just about gets a hard-on merely thinking about that statement. “… you better do this proper.”   
  
And then Danny’s turning around and he’s walking –  _swaggering_  is probably more accurate – towards the exit and Steve’s brain decides to come back online.   
  
“Wait!” Steve shouts, catching up with Danny. “What does that mean? Wha…?”   
  
He’s out of breath somehow, his heart frantically trying to find a way to climb out of his chest, it seems.   
  
“It means, you  _ask_ !” Danny punctuates, “It means you don’t just assume I’m a sure thing!”  
  
“I. You. But…” Steve wants to say that that wasn’t the case, that he didn’t take Danny for granted, but he  _did_  just lean in and go for a kiss, without so much as a conversation to prelude, so… yeah…   
  
“Doesn’t matter if I am or not,” Danny mutters under his breath, “The point is that you should at least treat me as if I’m not.”  
  
“So I… court you?” Steve squints his face as if the concept of the word is lost on him.   
  
“Yes!” Danny all but stamps his foot down on the ground. “You ask me out, you dress up for me, you take me somewhere nice! You put a little effort into it, for God’s sake!”   
  
Steve can’t help it, a laugh escapes him. “I never realized you were so high maintenance, Danno.”   
  
“You bet your ass I am,” Danny says, and there’s something in his smile that tells Steve that maybe he’s a pretty sure thing after all. But he can play by Danny’s rules if that’s what Danny wants.   
  
“So why aren’t  _you_  the one that has to court  _me_ ?” Steve asks, hands on his sides and head tilted.   
  
“’cause you’re the one that made the first move, babe,” Danny grins.   
  
“So what you’re saying is that I’m definitely the guy in this relationship,” Steve tries for smug.   
  
“Keep it up, Steven,” Danny shakes his head as he makes his way for the door, “See if that attitude is going to get you anywhere…”   
  
And Danny disappears from the office, leaving a baffled Steve behind.   
  
…  
  
Steve’s eyes have been flickering between the entrance and Danny’s office for about an hour now. Every now and then Danny glances up to find Steve staring, but he just shoots him an amused smile and goes back to his paperwork.   
  
They shared polite “Good morning, Steven”, “Good morning, Danno”-s when they arrived at the office, but ever since Steve has been sporting a smile on his face that is equal parts goofy and nervous.   
  
Around nine, the person Steve has been waiting for walks into the bullpen, carrying a huge box with a fancy red bow around it. Steve grins as Danny looks up, his interest peaked as the young delivery boy looks around the office awkwardly. Steve wonders if Danny can read the “Liliha Bakery” logo on the side of the box from where he’s sitting.  
  
The delivery boy smiles as he catches sight of Kono, standing in the middle of the bullpen, and reaches out the box at her. Steve can’t hear what he’s saying but he’s obviously got it all wrong and Steve is scrambling up from behind his desk as Kono eagerly accepts the box and starts to untie the bow.   
  
She’s got her lips already wrapped around a delicious looking chocolate covered coco puff – and  _damn_  she’s fast when it comes to pastry – by the time Steve is rushing up to them and barking out at the delivery boy, “I said Detective Williams! Does she look like a short blond haole to you?”   
  
The boy cringes and stares wide-eyed at Steve and yeah, he probably could’ve brought that on a bit less scary but honestly, he gave a description of Danny when he put in his order and everything!   
  
Kono is still munching away on her coco puff, even going for a second one.   
  
“Kono, come  _on_ ,” Steve sighs defeated, shoulders slumped down.   
  
“You shouldn’t have, boss,” she grins widely, shoving the second puff in its entirety in her mouth.   
  
“I didn’t!” Steve glares at the delivery boy, who seems to shrink visibly and sees the prospect of his tip going down the drain with each annoyed huff Steve lets out.   
  
“Oh, can I get one of those?”   
  
Steve whips around at the sound of Danny’s voice as he walks up, staring hopeful at Kono.  
  
“Sure,” Kono smiles, holding out the box as if she’s being oh-so generous and Steve just wants to pull out his hair.   
  
“No!” Steve all but yells, Danny’s hand freezing above the box of pastries.   
  
Danny quirks an eyebrow at Steve, and in the meantime Chin has joined in and obviously he doesn’t have any scruples ‘cause he just digs in and takes out two puffs at once.   
  
“I mean…” Steve sighs, giving up on trying to salvage the situation, “They were meant to be for you, Danny.”   
  
“I’m hurt, boss,” Kono shakes her head, but her mouth is still full of coco puffs and her smile is still wicked, so Steve is pretty confident she’ll get over it.   
  
“I uh… I ordered them to be delivered for you,” Steve shrugs, then glances over at the delivery boy again as if to say ‘and what are you still doing here?’. He takes the hint and disappears just as quickly from the office.   
  
“Yes, I often get mistaken for beautiful Hawaiian women,” Danny muses, examining the assortment in the box. “Oh, green tea!”  
  
“How come Danny gets the baked goods anyway?” Kono asks, already perusing to find another flavor.   
  
“He’s trying to court me,” Danny says matter-of-factly.   
  
Steve groans and starts to retreat back into his office.   
  
“So far it’s not going as he’d hoped for,” he can hear Danny say before he closes the door to his office.   
  
…  
  
Obviously delivery personnel can’t be trusted, which is why Steve goes to pick up a nice bouquet of flowers on his way to work the next day. The coco puffs were a bust – even though the box was empty by the end of the day – so maybe flowers are the way to go? Sure, there’s the risk of it being too “girly”, but Danny insisted on going through all this, so he damn well better like the flowers.   
  
He picks out the “manliest” bouquet he can find, whatever that may mean, and deposits them on Danny’s desk himself to avoid all confusion. He shifts them around on the desk several times before settling on a spot next to Danny’s computer.   
  
Danny – who has an appointment with the DA that morning – arrives somewhere before noon, when Steve is making coffee. He resists the urge to go and stare at Danny from his office window like a creepy stalker and just busies himself with sugar and cream as Danny steps into his office.   
  
The door to Danny’s office opens again after a few moments.   
  
“Steve?” Danny asks and the smile on Steve’s face disappears when he spots Danny’s red eyes.   
  
“Did you, by any chance, have flowers delivered to my office?” Danny asks, his expression giving nothing away, but he sniffles in the middle of his sentence and his eyes are a bit puffy and a lot red.   
  
“Not delivered, I…” Steve says, not quite sure what he’s done wrong here. “I got them myself, I… What’s wrong?”   
  
“There are Birds of Paradise in that bouquet, aren’t there?” Danny asks, pressing the heel of his hand into his eye.   
  
“Yeah,” Steve winces as Danny sneezes.  
  
“And they’ve been standing in my office all morning?”   
  
“Yeah…” Steve’s voice is barely a whisper now, because he never knew… How could he not know? “You’re allergic, aren’t you?”   
  
“You  _think_ ?” Danny asks, staring at Steve with puffed up eyes.   
  
“Shit,” Steve mutters, pushing his way past Danny into the office to remove the flowers.   
  
“Your throat isn’t going to start swelling shut, is it?” Steve asks almost panicked.   
  
“No,” Danny sniffles, somewhat annoyed, “I’ll just be crying and what not. Also, I can’t use my office today. It’s all over the place.”   
  
“Danny, I’m so sorry…” Steve starts, “You can take the rest of the day off.”  
  
“Can’t even breathe in the damn thing,” Danny mutters, wiping furiously at his eyes.   
  
“Danny, I…” Steve’s hand finds its way to Danny’s shoulder, his face crestfallen.   
  
“It’s not your fault,” Danny sighs, “Look, I’m gonna go home and wash out my eyes. Take a shower. Okay?”   
  
“Yeah, sure…” Steve says quickly, “Is there anything I can do?”  
  
Danny lets out a small snort. “I think I can manage a shower on my own, Steve, thanks.”   
  
Steve resists the urge to make a comment to that, figuring it really isn’t the time to flirt.   
  
“This doesn’t mean you’re off the hook,” Danny says as he prepares to leave. “Keep trying, Steve.”   
  
…  
  
Three days after the Birds of Paradise-fiasco, Steve gets up the courage to march into Danny’s office, empty-handed.   
  
“Danny?” He says, standing in front of Danny’s desk with a determined ‘I’m a man on a mission’ look on his face.   
  
“Yes Steve?” Danny barely looks up from the file he’s reading, until he notices that Steve is quiet as long as Danny doesn’t truly pay him attention.   
  
“What’s up?” Danny frowns, leaning back in his chair now as he regards Steve.   
  
“Will you go out on a date with me?” Steve asks, his jaw clenched and his fists balled up. Even though he knows it’s highly unlikely Danny will say no, he still can’t shake the dreadful feeling of rejection in the pit of his stomach.   
  
“Like, an actual date,” Steve continues, cursing himself because he knows he just cut Danny off, who’s left staring at him with an open mouth. “In a nice restaurant. I’ll wear nice clothes too, something other than cargoes and t-shirt. And I’ll pick you up and drive you back home and I’ll pay for the meal and I would bring you flowers if I didn’t fear I’d poison you with them again and…”   
  
“Babe!” Danny chuckles, getting up from behind his desk.   
  
Steve stops dead in his sentence and stares.   
  
“I’d love to,” Danny smiles, and Steve releases the breath he didn’t know he was holding. “That sounds really nice. Especially the part where you pay.”   
  
“Yeah?” Steve asks, grinning wide from ear to ear.   
  
“And seeing you dressed up,” Danny admits, looking up and down Steve’s body as if he’s picturing it already.   
  
“Tomorrow?” Steve asks hopeful.   
  
“How about tonight?” Danny grins, and Steve resists the urge to point out that maybe he’s easier than he likes Steve to believe he is. “I can drop by my place at lunch, get something nice to wear? You could do the same?”   
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Steve finds himself agreeing eagerly.   
  
…  
  
They manage to find time to pick up their nice suits from their respective homes during lunch  _and_  arrest a pair of home invaders in the afternoon, although to be fair, they did get a bit of help from Chin and Kono for that last one.   
  
Kono’s been insisting that she and Chin can handle the interrogations, practically getting out the pompoms ever since she learned about Steve and Danny’s date.   
  
“You need to go change,  _now_ ,” Kono practically shoos Steve out of the bullpen and towards the locker rooms.   
  
Steve shoots a glance at Danny, wrapping things up in his office.   
  
“You guys are not going to let a bunch of thugs ruin your nice evening, alright?” Kono insists, shoving Steve’s suit into his hands.   
  
And who can really argue with Kono anyway? So Steve makes his way towards the locker room, taking the time to change. He opted for classic, with a black suit, a white shirt, and a simple black tie. Steve thinks Danny will really appreciate the tie.   
  
When he gets back out into the bullpen, Danny’s just leaving his office with his date clothes swung over his arm. He takes the time to ogle Steve before drawling out a long whistle that makes Steve’s stomach flutter and his cheeks almost hurt from grinning.   
  
“Damn. I’m going to be the waiter to your James Bond again, aren’t I?” Danny says with a smile that reveals he clearly appreciates the view.   
  
“Not a chance,” Steve grins, and Danny brushes his fingers over Steve’s tie as he says, “I just need to make a quick phone call to Grace, get changed, and then I’m ready to go, okay?”  
  
Steve nods as he watches Danny head out, absentmindedly stroking his own tie just like Danny just did.   
  
Kono’s grinning like a madwoman and Steve thinks maybe all of this isn’t very professional, but they’re more Ohana than anything else anyway, so he just shakes off the thought.   
  
“Chin in there with the suspect?” Steve asks, pointing towards the interrogation room, because what with the phone call and the changing, he figures he has a good ten – fifteen minutes to spare before Danny’s back.   
  
“Yeah, but…” Kono tries, scrunching her face in disapproval.   
  
“Come get me when Danny’s back, okay?” Steve asks and makes a beeline for the interrogation room.   
  
“Boss…” He hears Kono whine, but plasters on a “don’t mess with me”-face as he enters the room to find Chin leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, staring at the suspect who’s sitting on a chair in the middle of the room.   
  
“You cops always so well-dressed?” The suspect snarks, throwing Steve a dirty look.   
  
“He’s not very accommodating,” Chin tells Steve, his face like stone.   
  
“Really?” Steve quirks an eyebrow like that’s the most interesting thing he’s heard all day.   
  
“You got nothing on me,” The guy spits out, fidgeting on his chair like it takes him the utmost trouble to keep still.   
  
“Except from the witness, your criminal record, and the fact that we found the stolen jewels in your garage…” Steve sums up dryly.   
  
“You planted those there!” Scumbag-of-the-day barks out and in an instant he’s off the chair and taking a swing at Steve. He misses, and Chin and Steve are on him quick enough, and they don’t really struggle much to get him on the floor and handcuffed but then Chin looks up at him and goes, “Oh, brah…” and Steve looks down at himself and…   
  
“Danny’s gonna kill me…” Steve sighs, taking in the damage.   
  
There’s a tear in his jacket and a smear of blood on his white shirt – oh hey, the perp seems to have gotten his arm scratched in the scuffle – and Steve can pretty much be sure that there’s no way Danny’s going to want to go out with him looking like he just came out of a bar fight.   
  
The suspect gets dropped back into the cell and Steve reluctantly steps back into the bullpen, followed by Chin.   
  
“You have got to be kidding me,” Danny snaps as he gives Steve a once-over.   
  
Danny’s, who’s looking absolutely gorgeous in his grey pants, snow-white shirt and grey vest – a  _vest_  for crying out loud, and it’s the hottest thing Steve’s ever seen – with his spotless tie and his hair done just the right way and… an absolute exasperated look on his face.   
  
“Danny…” Steve says, and he’s almost afraid to look back down at himself again.   
  
“Unbelievable…” Danny mutters as he shakes his head and tries to pry the knot of his tie open.   
  
“Oh boss-man…” Kono sighs and she actually has the guts to give him a pitiful look.   
  
“He just came at us…” Chin offers with a shrug and Steve wonders how on earth he manages to still look impeccable.   
  
“Whatever,” Danny sighs, his tie now loose around his neck as he’s turning back towards the door.   
  
“Danno…” Steve takes a few hurried steps to catch up with him.   
  
Danny looks put-upon.   
  
“Raincheck? Please?” Steve nearly whispers.   
  
“Yeah…” Danny says, his hand brushes over Steve’s arm. “Raincheck.”   
  
…  
  
Danny decides to give Steve another chance a few days later, and Steve is determined not to mess it up. He waits to go change until the very last minute, and even then he steps into his car mindful of every single thing that could mess up his impeccable appearance. He knocks on Danny’s door five minutes early, because Danny doesn’t like it when he’s late, but he doesn’t like it when he’s  _too_  early either. He doesn’t mention the fact that he spent fifteen minutes waiting in the car, his eyes on the clock.   
  
“Look at you, no fights,” Danny smiles as he lets Steve in, “Not even a black eye.”  
  
“All for you,” Steve says, and he tries to make it sound quippy but the truth is that he would probably do whatever it takes at this point.   
  
“Bonus points, babe,” Danny grins, fondling Steve’s tie.   
  
“I really like the vest,” Steve blurts out, because his brain must have short-circuited somehow.   
  
Danny brushes invisible lint off his vest smugly, and Steve has to bite down on his bottom lip not to jump him right there.   
  
“You didn’t forget your wallet?” Danny asks as they head for the car.   
  
“No worries,” Steve smiles, “I’m not going to stick you with the bill.”   
  
“Hey, I know your track-record,” Danny says in his own defense, and then Steve is holding open the passenger door and Danny stares at him with a surprised look.   
  
“You’re really going all out, aren’t you?” Danny says, sliding into the passenger seat.   
  
“Leave it all up to me,” Steve says, ‘cause damn if he isn’t going to live up to his nickname of Smooth Dog tonight, “Tonight is going to be perfect.”   
  
And isn’t that just the thing that will jinx it all? Steve really should’ve known better. But everything was going so great. The restaurant was fancy but not so fancy that it was uncomfortable. Steve was behaving like the perfect gentleman, and Danny couldn’t stop smiling the entire evening. Until…   
  
“You wanna share dessert?” Steve asks, “They have a red velvet cheesecake here that I think you’ll really appreciate.”   
  
“Uhm… I don’t…” Danny’s smile had faltered somewhat the last few minutes and it didn’t go unnoticed by Steve.   
  
“What’s wrong?” Steve asks, bracing himself for the worst.   
  
“I actually don’t feel so good,” Danny whispers as he leans in a little closer to Steve, as if he is keeping some big secret.   
  
“About this? About us?” Steve’s eyes go wide and he tries hard to fight off the panic.   
  
“No,” Danny says quickly, placing his hand on top of Steve’s on the table, “Not that, you goof. I meant the seafood… I don’t know, it’s… my stomach isn’t really agreeing with it or something.”   
  
“Are you allergic?” Steve asks, leaning in closer over the table.   
  
“No. And it tasted really good, it’s just…” His face scrunches up in a weird grimace as he slides his hand from Steve’s. “I need to use the bathroom for a sec…”   
  
And before Steve can say anything else, Danny’s marching to the bathroom as quick as he can without drawing too much attention to him. Steve doesn’t really know what to do. Does he follow him, make sure he’s alright? Is that the proper thing to do when on a date? Or does he give Danny some space for a few minutes without hovering over him while he’s no-doubtedly reliving his main platter? Does he storm into the kitchen and demand to know why the seafood made his date sick? Steve would really  _really_  love to do that, but he’s sure Danny would chew his head off if he did, so he settles for asking the bill – and adds to make it quick.   
  
Once the bill is paid, he hovers by the bathroom door and finally decides to check on Danny after all. He doesn’t care about being a pushy date as much as he wants to know if Danny’s alright.   
  
He finds Danny by the wash tables, tie loose, vest undone, splashing water on his face.   
  
“Danny?” he asks carefully.   
  
“I’m so sorry, Steve,” Danny sighs, accepting the small towel Steve hands him to wipe off his face.   
  
“Are you okay? Are you…?” Steve tries, his hand finding its way to Danny’s shoulder.   
  
“I’m never eating anything that comes out of the sea again,” Danny says dryly, burying his face in the towel.   
  
“I can go complain. I can…” Steve starts, not really sure what he’s supposed to do or say.   
  
“Can you just take me home?” Danny asks as he leaves the towel in the basket underneath the wash table and looks up at Steve. His face has gone completely pale, his eyes watery.   
  
“Yeah, of course. Come on, babe,” Steve says, his arm curled around Danny’s shoulder protectively as he ushers him out of the restaurant and into the car.   
  
The ride back to Danny’s place is quiet, besides the occasional “Are you okay?” from Steve and Danny’s insistence that Steve stop the car immediately if he were to say so. Somehow Steve didn’t expect this evening to end with Danny puking by the side of the road.   
  
When they arrive at Danny’s, Danny makes a beeline for the bathroom again.   
  
“Do I need to take you to the hospital?” Steve asks through the door, yet again torn between giving Danny his privacy and rubbing smoothing circles on Danny’s back with his hand while he throws up.   
  
“No, I’ll be fine,” the answer comes after a little while, then there’s the sound of the toilet flushing and the water of the sink running.   
  
“I guess you better go home,” Danny says as he emerges from the bathroom, without vest, tie, or shoes, and looking even paler than before.   
  
“I’m not leaving you here alone like this, Danno,” Steve says determined, guiding Danny towards the couch.   
  
“I hate to say it, babe, but the date’s over,” Danny winces as he goes to sit down on the couch. “Trust me when I say you wouldn’t want a goodnight kiss from me right now.”   
  
“Ye of little faith,” Steve tries to quip, getting Danny a glass of water. “Besides, forget about the date. There’s no way I’m leaving my best friend alone like this.”   
  
Danny smiles faintly and pulls his feet up on the couch. Steve puts the glass of water on the coffee table and spreads out a blanket over Danny as he finally lies down.   
  
“Thanks,” Danny mumbles, looking absolutely wretched.   
  
Steve just strokes his hand down Danny’s arm.   
  
“And by the way?” Danny asks, one eye peering open to see if Steve’s paying attention. “I don’t wanna forget about the date. It was really great, up until… you know.”   
  
“Yeah,” Steve smiles weakly, sitting down on the floor in front of the couch. “It really was.”   
  
…  
  
 _Danno,  
  
My place at 7?   
  
S._  
  
That was the post-it Steve had left on Danny’s desk. This time, he wasn’t taking any chances. Everything Danny would eat tonight would be prepared by Steve himself. No more food poisoning from some fancy restaurant. This time, the date is going to go perfectly according to plan, and Steve is going to get his goodnight kiss, God dammit!   
  
“I almost feel bad for making you work so hard for it,” Danny smiles as he appears in Steve’s kitchen, exactly at 7.   
  
Steve’s putting the final touches on the tomato sauce he’s making for the pasta, smiles at Danny and says, “You could just put out right now.”   
  
Danny lets out a laugh. “But that would ruin the nice dinner you worked so hard on.”   
  
“You know…” Steve smiles, reaching in the fridge to take out a bottle of wine. “I really don’t think I’d mind.”   
  
“Animal,” Danny winks and takes out a couple of glasses.   
  
Dinner goes according to plan (No food poisoning for Danny!), they go through a bottle of wine (Beer is not a drink for a date), and they end up sitting on the couch together with some nice romantic music in the background (Danny vetoed  _Sexy Eyes_ ).   
  
“This is really nice.” Danny has got his head rested against the back of the couch and he’s looking up at Steve with a slightly drunk, completely blissed out smile on his face.   
  
“I was going for nice,” Steve smiles back, and he guesses his smile is about as goofy and happy as Danny’s.   
  
“I really appreciate this,” Danny says, his eyes fixed on Steve as the back of his hand absentmindedly strokes up and down Steve’s thigh. “Even if I did have to coerce you into making a bit of an effort.”   
  
Steve’s eyes drop to Danny’s hand, and he tentatively lets his fingers brush into Danny’s palm. Danny closes his fingers around Steve’s, exploring them one by one.   
  
“You’re worth so much more,” Steve says, and he means it too.   
  
Danny smiles again, and lifts his head up and Steve takes that as the hint he’s been waiting for. He cranes his neck and leans into Danny, his eyes focusing on Danny’s until they become a blur and he closes them and…   
  
The door opens with a loud thud. “Hello brothe…whoa, looks like I came at a bad time!”   
  
Mary’s grinning ear to ear and she doesn’t look the least bit apologetic as he throws her bags down in the middle of the living room floor.   
  
Danny closes his eyes and sags his head back against the couch, sighing heavily. Steve just wants to kill someone as he lets go of Danny’s hand.   
  
“Mary…” he all but growls as he gets up and approaches his sister.   
  
“In my defense, I didn’t know you had company!” Mary holds up her hands, but she hasn’t lost the smile yet.   
  
“You didn’t exactly tell me you were visiting!” Steve counters, running his hands through his hair.   
  
Mary leans to her right to look past Steve and waves at the couch, miming “Hey Danny”. Danny smiles weakly and nods back a ‘hey’.   
  
“So I can crash here for a few days, right?” Mary beams at Steve, already picking up her bag again and moving towards the stairs.   
  
Steve doesn’t dignify the question with a response because he knows there’s no way to get rid of her now, and yes, the date has officially been ruined.   
  
“I’ll call for a taxi to take me home,” Danny says, flipping out his cell phone.   
  
“Danny…” Steve sighs.   
  
“Not your fault, babe,” Danny shrugs, scrolling down his contacts for the cab company.   
  
“How were you planning on getting home anyway?” Steve frowns, looking at the empty bottle of wine on the coffee table, suddenly realizing that Danny drove here with the Camaro.   
  
“I wasn’t,” Danny smiles wickedly, cell phone pressed to his ear.   
  
And Steve thinks maybe he can kick Mary out after all? Just this once?   
  
…  
  
Steve wouldn’t be Steve is he gave up this easily though. He didn’t become a SEAL by quitting when things got tough, and he thinks maybe he wants Danny even more than he ever wanted to be a SEAL. He thinks maybe Danny wants him too, because even after all the disastrous attempts, Danny still agreed to another try, which is why they’re finding themselves walking on the beach, with their pants curled up and their bare feet in the water.   
  
“And here I was thinking you were afraid of the ocean,” Steve says, enjoying the feel of the water sloshing around his ankles.   
  
“Just because I’m not obsessively whipping off my shirt and jumping into the water every chance I get…” Danny starts.   
  
“There’s nothing obsessive about it!” Steve calls out.   
  
“Oh please,” Danny snorts, bumping his shoulder against Steve’s, “Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about going shirtless at least five times in the last half hour.”   
  
“I think you’re just projecting your own desires onto me, Danno,” Steve says smugly, bumping back with his shoulder – just because he likes the touch.   
  
“Oh, I am, am I?” Danny asks, aiming for unconvinced but being betrayed by his smile.   
  
“Totally,” Steve says, trying hard to keep a straight face, “You’re so into me.”   
  
“You’re pretty confident, aren’t you?” Danny quirks an eyebrow.   
  
“Well…” Steve smiles as he stops in his tracks and turns to look at Danny. “Three dates gone bad and you’re still here.”   
  
“I’m still here,” Danny repeats softly, smiling up at Steve.   
  
Then there’s a sharp sting just above Steve’s ankle and he cries out in pain as he nearly doubles over.   
  
“Fuck, Steve?” Danny calls out, strong hands trying to keep Steve up.   
  
“Get out of the water,” Steve grits through his teeth as he recognizes the sting. “Jellyfish.”  
  
Danny quickly hurries out of the water, pulling Steve with him, and they both collapse on their asses in the sand, safely away from the edge of the water.   
  
Steve breathes sharply through his nose, eyes pinched shut, as he clutches at his leg.   
  
“Okay… okay,” Danny fights to stay calm, “I’ll go get the car as close as possible and…”   
  
“No!” Steve nearly shouts, then swallows hard. “I’ll be okay. It’ll be okay.”   
  
“Steve, you got stung by a jellyfish. I need to at least get you checked out by a doctor and…”   
  
“No,” Steve all but whines, clenching his fists so as not to rub on his red and swollen ankle. “Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”   
  
“And what?” Danny’s right in his face now. “You think we can go back to our date? You really are insane, aren’t you?”   
  
“This is ridiculous!” Steve grits through his teeth, letting himself fall back into the sand. “I just want this to go right, just this once. Just long enough to…”   
  
Steve trails off, and Danny promptly ignores him.   
  
“What’s ridiculous is that you think you can power your way through this,” Danny says, and Steve thinks he can see him rolls his eyes.   
  
“I can handle this,” Steve says determined, “It’s not like I haven’t been through worse.”   
  
“Oh yeah, and that’s exactly what I want,” Danny snaps, “For you to consider this some sort of SEAL torture you have to go through.”   
  
“Danny…” Steve sighs, trying to get up on his feet but buckling under the pain.   
  
“I’m taking you to see a doctor, and that’s the end of this discussion. Period.” Danny says sharply, pulling Steve’s arm around his shoulder to support him.   
  
“I don’t have a single thing to say in this whole thing, do I?” Steve mutters annoyed as he lets Danny pulls him up.   
  
“Yes, yes, poor you,” Danny mumbles under his breath as he guides Steve away from the water, “To actually have people around you that care about your well-being…”   
  
…  
  
“You’re serious about us locking ourselves in, aren’t you?” Danny chuckles as Steve checks the deadbolt on the door for the second time.   
  
“We are watching a movie, Danny. We are sitting on that couch and watching a movie all the way to the end, and somewhere midway through I’m going to put my arm around your shoulder, and at the end I’m going to kiss you,” Steve says like he’s checking off bullet points, “And we’re going to do all that without crazy relatives barging in, without allergies or food poisoning, and without animal bites, alright?”   
  
“Sounds like a plan,” Danny smirks as he plops down on the couch, “I’m on board.”   
  
“Good, becau…” Steve starts, but is cut off by the ringtone of his cell phone on the coffee table. He just closes his eyes and breathes deeply.   
  
Danny stretches over to take a look at the phone.   
  
“It’s the Governor.”   
  
“He can suck it,” Steve says, glaring at the damn thing on his coffee table that’s threatening to ruin yet another evening.   
  
“Steve,” Danny nods towards the phone. “It’s the Governor, man. You can’t ignore his calls.”   
  
The ring is tenacious, and Steve finally picks it up and barks into it. “Yes?!”  
  
Danny cringes as the Governor starts yammering in Steve’s ear. Something about a meeting with some kind of benefactor to the state of Hawaii and how much they would like to get to know the head of Five-0 and of course,  _of course_  this is all happening in an hour and Steve feels like murdering someone.   
  
“I’m terribly sorry, Sir,” Steve says, and he tries to sound as genuine and apologetic as he can under the circumstances, “But tonight is impossible.”   
  
“What are you doing?” Danny whispers harshly while the Governor is convincing him that this meeting could do a world of good to the resources of the task force, not to mention the state, but all Steve hears is “Blah blah blah, political lobbying, blah” and all he can think about is Danny sitting there on his couch. Danny, who was all on board with his plan.   
  
“At this point, I’d rather quit than leave this house,” Steve whispers back at Danny, with the palm of his hand covering his phone.   
  
“You keep this up and you won’t have to,” Danny murmurs, “He’ll just fire you.”   
  
“I’m beginning to think this is a conspiracy, you know,” Steve grumbles, vaguely aware that the Governor is still speaking to him on the phone.   
  
“Look, you’re not exactly the Governor’s favorite buddy to hang out with,” Danny reasons, “If he says he needs you somewhere, it’s ‘cause he really does. Not just to bully you into spending time with him, alright?”   
  
“I can’t fucking believe this…” Steve mumbles before finally taking his hand off the speaker of the phone and telling the Governor he’ll be there in an hour.   
  
…  
  
Steve takes the time to let it all sink in. It’s been a week since his last attempt at a proper date with Danny, and while he’s not thinking of quitting, he is beginning to despair. The entire universe seems to be against him on this, and he just doesn’t know what to do anymore. He doesn’t know how to come up with a foolproof date. He truly does want to give Danny all that he deserves, the nice dates, the courting, the effort put into it. But every single time something goes horribly wrong, and Steve’s not sure how much more of this he can take.   
  
It’s Friday evening and even though there are no new cases and Steve knows Danny doesn’t have Grace this weekend, he hasn’t suggested getting together. He hasn’t figured out the foolproof date yet.   
  
Steve is so caught up in his thoughts as he enters the house that he almost misses the warm glow that’s coming from the lanaii. He peeps his head outside and sees Danny relaxing on one of the chairs, beer in his hand, and various candles scattered around the wooden deck.   
  
“Danny?” Steve asks tentatively, and Danny turns his head to look at him with a smile.   
  
“Did you know that you don’t have candles in this house?” Danny asks, putting his beer bottle down next to the chair. “Like, not a single one in this entire house. I had to go out and buy some.”   
  
Steve looks around at the flickering flames all around him.   
  
“I can see that…” he frowns, hands on his sides. “Question is, why?”  
  
Danny gets up from the chair and steps right into Steve’s personal space.   
  
“I know I gave you a hard time about all of this,” Danny says, hand coming up to play with the edge of Steve’s collar. “But as well-intended as your attempts have been, they’re clearly not working out.”   
  
“So… what now?” Steve asks, Danny’s proximity starting to make him feel light-headed. With every breath he can actually  _smell_  Danny and it feels intoxicating.   
  
“So now I’m making a move,” Danny says matter-of-factly, “And we’re skipping the actual date.”  
  
Steve’s not quite sure how he musters up the willpower to not push himself against Danny right there and then, but he smirks, “And you don’t have to do any courting? You think I’m an easy lay?”   
  
Danny just smirks and takes a minute step backwards. “Well, if you insist I guess I can ask you out on a date. Maybe next Saturday or something? Of course, since you’re not easy, there will be no kissing at the end of it. Probably more of a third date kind of a guy, right?”  
  
And the thing is, Steve  _knows_  Danny’s just teasing, but there is just no way he can envision himself waiting another second before wrapping this man up in his arms and engulfing him whole. It’s just not possible anymore, and so Steve grabs Danny’s face between his hands and crushes his lips down on his. And Danny doesn’t struggle, he only snakes his arms around Steve’s shoulders and stands up on his tiptoes to get even closer and opens his mouth willingly under Steve’s.   
  
Steve wraps his arms tightly around Danny, pulling him up and into him, wanting to feel every inch of Danny’s body against him. Danny’s nipping eagerly at his lips, twists and flicks his tongue along Steve’s, and it’s only when Steve feels Danny’s hard-on pressed against his thigh that he realizes that he is rock-hard himself. Zero to one-hundred in less than a minute.  _That_  is what Danny Williams does to him. And it should probably be scary but somehow Steve has never felt more secure.   
  
“We could’ve been doing this all along,” Steve mumbles against Danny’s jawline, because he doesn’t seem to have a filter anymore.   
  
Danny just snickers as he rubs his hips in a circle against Steve’s. “Smart-ass. I’m worth the effort.”   
  
Steve pulls his head away far enough so he can look Danny in the eye and say, “I’ve never met anyone who was worth it more.”


End file.
